Charles Martell lived a life of service to others
After the second siege of Louisbourg, Charles Martell stayed behind and assisted in the removal of the fortifications. He lived in the town of Louisbourg from 1758 to 1775. In fact, his first six children were born in Louisbourg between 1760 and 1775.
Around 1775, he acquired 200 acres of land on the Catalone side of Mira Gut, which he later passed on to his son Joseph. His daughter Elizabeth was born in Mira in 1778. However, Charles would also acquire property in the heart of Main-a-Dieu itself, 200 acres, near the old Anglican graveyard, and it was there that he settled for the rest of his life. His last two children were born in Main-a-Dieu between 1778 and 1782.
Charles had a liberal arts education, the equivalent of a university degree. He made his greatest contribution to the culture of Cape Breton in Main-a-Dieu. For example, he was appointed after 1785 as a Justice of the Peace and was esteemed enough to acquire the appellation Charles Martell, Esquire.
When Reverend Ranna Cossit visited Main-a-Dieu on November 12, 1786, he reported that there were 28 men, 16 women, 40 children and 23 men-servants living in the village. Charles’s entire family of nine was there then. Cossit appointed Charles lay reader, with the privileges of conducting services, preaching and burying the dead. In 1795, Cossit reported that there were “80 souls” in Main-a-Dieu. On that occasion, he received three people into the church who had been baptized by Charles. Likewise, in 1803, Cossit accepted 30 people into the church who were baptized by Charles.
In addition to his role as lay reader, Charles taught seamanship in his home, and many of his descendants, now buried in the new graveyard in Main-a-Dieu, were sea captains – master mariners who sailed schooners far and wide.
It would seem that his whole life consisted of service to others and, I might add, he passed the charity gene down to his descendants. For example, on December 11, 1788, Charles was cutting firewood near Main-a-Dieu when he came upon ill-clad Irish convicts who were cruelly let off on the coast of Cape Breton by the captain of a convict ship. There were 80 in all. Charles and others harboured the majority of them and he vigorously solicited provisions for them from the governments in Sydney and Halifax. A relative of mine is in possession of the letters that Charles wrote to Halifax. Charles Burke, a historian at Fortress Louisbourg, has researched the incident. His account may be found in Cape Breton’s Magazine, Volume 72.
Charles, whose descendants spoke French until the 1850s, died on November 5, 1819, at the age of 86. He wrote a remarkable will that displayed his great faith. “I recommend… to be buried in a decent Christian burial… nothing doubting that at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God…” he wrote.
Charles is buried in the little Anglican graveyard in the heart of Main-a-Dieu, a mere postage stamp of remembrance, with knee-high grass and some stones not even standing. The inscription on the time-ravaged gravestone reads: “O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
Next week, I shall trace the connection between Charles Martell and my mother, Susan (Martell) Peach.
LeRoy Peach lives in Port Morien and may be reached at leroy_peach@yahoo.ca. His column appears every week in the Cape Breton Post